The mother of White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt’s nephew was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers earlier this month, according to the breaking report from WBUR.
Bruna Ferreira, a Boston resident who immigrated from Brazil as a child, was arrested in Revere, Mass., while driving to pick up her son from school in New Hampshire, according to the Boston Globe. The son’s father, Michael Leavitt, Sr., is the brother of Karoline Leavitt, who has been outspoken about the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration in her role as the White House spokesperson.
Ferreira is currently in custody in a Louisiana ICE processing center, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
Ferreira and Michael Leavitt have not been in a relationship for approximately 10 years, according to WBUR. Their child primarily lives and goes to school in New Hampshire, but the parents share custody.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Ferreira by her sister, Graziela Dos Santos Rodrigues. It has a $30,000 goal to “cover the legal fees and expenses needed to give Bruna the best possible chance to return home to her family.”
“Anyone who knows Bruna knows the kind of person she is,” Dos Santos Rodrigues wrote on the page. “She is hardworking, kind, and always the first to offer help when someone needs it. Whether it’s supporting family, friends, or even strangers, Bruna has a heart that puts others before herself.”
Attempts to reach DHS, Ferreira’s lawyer and Dos Santos Rodrigues were not successful at the time of publication.